Fear of Falling
by Gabriel Gatsby
Summary: A five-drabble collection briefing Theo and Lavender's relationship.
1. Door

" _Ow!_ " came a particularly annoying, high-pitched voice, and it only took Theo a moment to locate its owner. Still clutching the handle of the door he had just opened, he stared blankly down at the body sprawled across the floor before him, and met her scowl with one of his own.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, annoyed by her peevish tone. Who did she think she was?

"What am _I_ doing?" she whined, obviously appalled by something. "You knocked me over!"

Theo just stared. Was this dunderhead for real? Dragging his eyes over her form, he took in the books splayed messily about her, the way her crumpled skirt hiked _almost_ too far up her thighs, and the childish pouting of her otherwise pretty, pink lips.

"What kind of idiot stands behind an open door?" he snapped back, letting it swing shut behind him with a bang, before carefully stepping around her. Her outrage seemed to turn to shocked disbelief as she realised he wasn't going to help her up, much less apologise, and he could practically feel her eyes boring into his back as he headed off down the corridor.

 _Moron,_ he thought to himself, as he listened to her huffing indignantly behind him, as she no doubt picked both herself and her things up off the floor.

* * *

 _Written for: 'The Five Drabbles Competition'. Prompts: (object) door, (object) glass, (colour) forest green, (action) whispering, (song) Centuries by Fall Out Boy, (word count) 100-400 words per chapter, five chapters total_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter._

 _CC cover image (entitled 'in the forest') courtesy of Franzisko Hauser on Flickr._


	2. Glass

She swayed a little as she made her way towards him, though she kept her eyes fixed on his the whole way. What remained of her drink sloshed around in the glass she carried, as she stumbled slightly, and for a moment he wondered idly if she would ever make it.

Soon, though, she was indeed stood before him, a scowl once again marring the otherwise pretty features of her face.

"You," she slurred through her drink-induced stupor, before taking another long sip of whatever concoction she had fallen prey to that night. He watched, perhaps a little too closely, as her pouty, pink lips closed around the edge of the glass, and the dark liquid slid past them, and into her open, warm…

"You really _did_ knock me over," she finally finished, drawing his attention back up to her eyes as she lowered the glass. "I think I deserve an apology," she mumbled with a frown, voice stern, despite the slur.

Theo just stared.

As his brain continued to wade through mud, silence stretched out between them. Try as he might, though, no intelligent thought was forthcoming. Admittedly, she may not have been the only one who had had a few too many. Before long, his eyes dropped back to those lips, and then not long after that, he felt himself leaning in, and…

"Oh," was all she said, as they finally parted, and he felt her breath ghost over his own lips with the slight exhalation.

Perhaps if he had been sober, he would have wondered what the hell he was doing, kissing _Lavender Brown_ of all people…

But he wasn't sober, and so he didn't wonder… and so he did it again.


	3. Forest Green

"How can you _stand_ it?" a voice mutters, dripping with derision, and Theo drags his attention from Lavender long enough to glance over his shoulder and catch sight of distinct, platinum-blond hair.

"What?" he asks dryly with a sneer, turning his eyes back to Lavender, who bats her lashes repeatedly before blowing him a kiss off the palm of her hand. "You mean to tell me _Pansy_ is somehow better?"

He hears Draco scoff, and can imagine the affronted expression plastered over his pointy features, though he doesn't turn to look.

"Pansy is just a fuck," he argues, and Theo can't help but scowl. For lack of a better come-back, his next words are out before he can stop them, instantly bringing an unwelcome, unpleasant feeling with them that makes him want to take them back… except he can't.

"And what do you think this is?"

Despite the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach, he still smirks, as the following pause shows that he's won. Draco has nothing to say to that.

Returning his attention to Lavender, he notices a small forest-green ribbon in her hair, and a more genuine smile tugs at his lips. His mind begins to wander once more, as she notices him noticing. It's forest-green, for Slytherin, because although she's a Gryffindor, she's _his._ He remembers how she looked, against the green of his Slytherin sheets, with her wrists bound in his Slytherin-green tie, open and willing and wet and-

"But… is it really _worth it?"_ that annoying voice cuts in again, and once more Theo is dragged from his reverie. He watches as Lavender breathes against the clear surface of a glass, before drawing a heart shape in the condensation and holding it up for him to see. A reminder of their first night.

"You have no idea," he says, smirking once more.


	4. Whispering

"I _heard_ them!" she squawks, ugly tears streaming down her face, her hands balled into fists by her sides, and it's all Theo can do not to try and slap some sense into the stupid girl.

"Of course you did. Don't you get it? He _wanted_ you to hear him!" he tries to reason, but she isn't relenting, no matter how much sense he makes.

"Then why were they whispering?" she sobs, her bottom lip quivering. Catching sight of it, his attention lapses for a moment, but looking up at her red-rimmed eyes once more his frustration returns.

"You really are stupid, aren't you? He's a Slytherin. What did you expect? He's not just going to walk up to you and tell you."

"B-but… _you're_ a Slytherin, too. How do I know you're not the liar?" she returns, and suddenly, he doesn't have a whole lot to say.

There's a pause, as he falters, and it seems that's all the affirmation she needs. With one last woeful wail, she turns on her heel, and flees down the corridor.

 _I'll fucking kill him,_ he thinks to himself, as he watches her retreating back, though he already knows deep down inside that he won't. He did, after all, lie to her. He did say those words. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin or no, had not been the one that said she was just a fuck. Draco Malfoy had not been the one that made her cry. He had not been the one that hurt her.

Not really.


	5. Centuries

_The war has begun._

 _As another spell collides with the wall behind him, rock and rubble rain down, and he's forced to throw up his arms to keep from being pummelled by the falling debris. Peering through the dust cloud, he can just make her out at the end of the corridor, and one thought is all that fills his mind._

 _He must reach her, before it's too late._

 _Although he stumbles and trips on the uneven footing, he doesn't dare look down. His green eyes are locked onto her brown orbs, as though he could hold her there with just that look. Legs pumping and lungs burning, he dashes towards her, arms open before him._

 _He's so close, he's sure if he just stretched his fingers out a little more, he would reach her. He would be able to feel her skin beneath his own. He would be able to taste her breath on his lips, once more…_

 _But just as his fingers brush against her, she's gone. His hands close on nothing, and suffocating panic eclipses all else…_

 _Because she's falling._

Theo wakes with a start, eyes wide, and heart hammering in his chest. He struggles against the sheets for a moment as they tangle around his sweat-slicked body, before he's finally able to free himself and grabs for his wand on the nightstand.

Whispering an unsteady _Lumos,_ he flinches at the sudden light, but clutches his wand tighter as the glow trembles with his shaking hand.

 _Just a dream,_ he tells himself, through ragged breaths. But how was that supposed to be comforting, when the reality was so much worse? When every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face… the way she'd looked, the last time he had seen her….

For he hadn't been at the Battle of Hogwarts. He hadn't had a chance to save her, or to see her one last time, or to even _try_. He simply hadn't been there _._

And now, it truly was, too late.

* * *

 **A/N:** That's it! I found this pairing really difficult, as I didn't really believe they would have ever gotten together, and it was really hard to justify the odd pairing in so few words, but I tried! Please do let me know what you thought :) Thanks! GG x


End file.
